Seagate ST973401SS 2.5-Inch Disc Drives: Key to Cutting Data Center Costs (159 - Page 2

SFF 2.5-inch drives can also significantly expand the role 1U servers and blade servers currently play in the enterprise. 1U servers equipped with six 2.5-inch drives can deliver full RAID 5 functionality, outperforming 2U servers by 150 percent while using half the space. Blade servers are typically equipped with notebook-class disc drives, without the reliability and performance needed for more rigorous enterprise applications. SFF 2.5-inch drives are true enterprise-class devices, their 1.4 million hour MTBF and 10K-RPM disc speed enabling blade servers to cost-effectively address a broader range of enterprise duties. Data Center Sprawl Throughout the superheated markets of the late Nineties, economic optimism and Internet euphoria drove data center proliferation at a breakneck pace. Apparently limitless opportunities in e-business and e-commerce brought unprecedented demand for increased server and storage capacity, and the dizzying revenues such opportunities promised seemed to easily justify the enterprise's massive investment in additional data center infrastructure. Amidst this frenzy of well-funded expansion, there was little time (or fiscal incentive) to efficiently integrate new data centers into existing infrastructures, or even to ensure optimal coordination between the newly deployed data centers themselves. As a result, enterprise data centers evolved into a diffuse hodgepodge of high-priced, spacious facilities that offered impressive throughput and capacity, but low efficiency per square foot and high management costs. When the economic bubble eventually burst, the enterprise was forced to critically examine every aspect of operations for possible cost-cutting opportunities. These audits promptly revealed a plethora of expensive data centers fraught with storage overcapacity and underutilization. Halting new data center development was an obvious first step, but downsizing and consolidating existing storage systems proved more problematic. With virtually no funding to undertake such consolidation efforts, many enterprises were forced to simply make do until the economy rebounded. Consolidation Conundrum As today's vital economy continues to gain momentum, many enterprises now are focused on implementing their postponed storage consolidation initiatives. A recent Gartner study indicated 94 percent of respondents were either considering or actively undertaking storage consolidation. At its core, storage consolidation seeks to cut costs and improve efficiency by housing a reduced number of storage devices in fewer, smaller and better-integrated data center facilities. Not only will this significantly lower expenditures on the physical structures themselves (IDC estimates that total cost of ownership for data center space can exceed $1000 per square foot), it will boost storage utilization levels and thus storage system ROI. But for one critical caveat: storage utilization levels must not become so elevated as to significantly degrade I/O performance. It's axiomatic that when user numbers remain unchanged and disc drive counts drop (via storage consolidation), user-to-drive ratios rise and drive utilization levels climb. In today's growth economy, enterprises can be expected to substantially increase user numbers. Fewer, smaller systems must be able to meet the needs of more users. Cutting Data Center Costs With 2.5-Inch Enterprise Drives To fully realize the benefits of consolidating a data center's storage systems, enterprises must deploy storage devices specifically designed to deliver high performance in space-constrained environments. Small form factor (SFF) 2.5-inch enterprise disc drives are precisely such devices, enabling a new class of high-I/O-density storage solutions. Exploiting the SFF 2.5-inch drive's optimal blend of performance, compact size and reliability, these new storage solutions provide both superior IOPS (input output per second) and greater space efficiency than conventional 3.5-inch, 10K-RPM-based systems. Central to the SFF 2.5-inch drive's value proposition is the concept of IOPS/U, or input output per second/unit (of vertical rack space). IOPS/U is a critically important measurement in any storage consolidation strategy because it factors in both a storage device's performance and its space requirements. SFF 2.5-inch drives are purpose-built to excel in these two key criteria and are ideally complemented by the new Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface. SAS combines superior throughput (3.0 Gbits/sec) with compact cabling and connectors that use less enclosure space, thus significantly enhancing airflow/cooling in high-density computing environments. The economies of data center consolidation are compelling. Computerworld reports that DHL's consolidation efforts are saving the company about $24 million per year; after consolidating the IT infrastructure of recently acquired Airborne Express, DHL expects annual savings to exceed $50 million. Cost reductions such as this reflect more than just shrinking floor space needs. Less data center server and storage hardware also requires less ancillary infrastructure, such as routers, switches, cabling, UPS and rack cabinets, directly translating into lower costs as new hardware is deployed. This also enables fewer IT staff to administer and maintain the systems, reducing a major cost factor in data center overhead. 2